Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Building / Automation
Building + Automation: a typical launch earns $8,282 in its first year
That is the median of 46 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 20 of 101 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 11.2 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 91% on the year before: 101 against 53.
- Price
- $8,282 median of 46 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −45.4% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 101 53 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 294 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 612 carrying both tags
Boards
as of 30 Sep 2026Where this pair stands on each board of the front page. Every value carries its 90% interval and its sample.
| Board | Value | Interval | Sample | Standing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Most anticipatedShare of all upcoming wishlist heat on Steam, with the number of upcoming games beside it. | 0.27%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.20% to 0.35% | 40 ranked of 294 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #849 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 1.62xhits against expected | 1.22x to 2.14x | 101 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #514 of 6,324pairs on this board |
| Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. | −43%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam | −53% to −27% | 49 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months | #2,290 of 2,361pairs on this board |
| Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. | −23%review growth against same-age games | −31% to −13% | 49 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025 | #1,560 of 2,461pairs on this board |
Pairs are noisier than genres: the demand boards at pair level are indicative only.
Launch success
launches 6 to 30 months oldMatured indie paid launches that earned an estimated $100k or more, against the number expected for games at the same price tier and launch quarter.
- Launches
- 101
- Hit rate
- 19.8%12.0% to 28.9%
- Expected rate
- 11.1%
- Against expected
- 1.62x1.22x to 2.14x
Launch window: indie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old). Hit odds are shrunk toward the Steam-wide rate by 3 expected hits.
Revenue spread
101 launchesEstimated lifetime gross of the same matured launches. Half earned less than the median; one in ten earned more than the top figure.
- Bottom tenth
- $121
- Median
- $5,057
- Top tenth
- $522,189
Estimated from Steam review counts. Lifetime to date, so it differs from the first-year price above.
Supply
raw release countsGames released with both tags, last 12 months against the 12 before.
- Change
- +91%
- Against Steam
- +35%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases
Parent tags
- BuildingGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
- AutomationGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
Comparable games
8 indie titlesThe biggest indie games in this pair by estimated lifetime gross. Revenue is shown as a number at 50 or more reviews, as a range at 10 to 49, and not at all below 10.
- shapez 2 - Factory (opens the Steam store)2024 · 13,937 reviews, 96% positiveest. $8.1M
- Graveyard Keeper 2 (opens the Steam store)2026 · 5,767 reviews, 77% positiveest. $2.7M
- The Crust (opens the Steam store)2024 · 3,764 reviews, 75% positiveest. $2.4M
- Lightyear Frontier (opens the Steam store)2024 · 4,280 reviews, 83% positiveest. $2.2M
- Rusty's Retirement (opens the Steam store)2024 · 13,915 reviews, 96% positiveest. $1.7M
- Sandustry (opens the Steam store)2026 · 4,980 reviews, 97% positiveest. $1.5M
- MineMogul (opens the Steam store)2025 · 4,388 reviews, 96% positiveest. $1.3M
- Star Birds (opens the Steam store)2025 · 3,005 reviews, 91% positiveest. $1.2M
More with Building
pairs with Building- Building + Cozy$14,48232 launches priced, 66 releases in 12 months
- Building + Life Sim$12,54245 launches priced, 64 releases in 12 months
- Building + Colony Sim$11,53947 launches priced, 44 releases in 12 months
- Building + Economy$7,77095 launches priced, 122 releases in 12 months
- Building + Immersive Sim$7,64451 launches priced, 53 releases in 12 months
- Building + First-Person$7,38241 launches priced, 60 releases in 12 months
More with Automation
pairs with Automation- Base Building + Automation$14,08239 launches priced, 83 releases in 12 months
- Resource Management + Automation$12,44539 launches priced, 152 releases in 12 months
- Crafting + Automation$6,72240 launches priced, 100 releases in 12 months
- Simulation + Automation$5,42078 launches priced, 298 releases in 12 months
- Management + Automation$5,42060 launches priced, 182 releases in 12 months
- Strategy + Automation$3,21355 launches priced, 191 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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